Vakasalewalewa are people from

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

, who were born assigned male at birth but who have a feminine gender expression. In Fiji this is understood as a traditional

third gender Third gender is a concept in which individuals are categorized, either by themselves or by society, as neither man nor woman. It is also a social category present in societies that recognize three or more genders. The term ''third'' is usually ...

identity, culturally specific to the country.

Etymology

The term comes from Fijian and translates as "acting in the manner of a woman"; it has connotations of a traditional cultural way of life. A related modern term is , which is used to collectively describe all non-heteronormative male-bodied people in Fiji. Another related term is , which translates as "wanting to be a women". Vakasalewalewa is included in the acronym MVPFAFF+ ( mahu, vakasalewalewa, palopa, fa'afafine,

akava'ine Akava'ine is a Cook Islands Māori word which has come, since the 2000s, to refer to transgender people of Māori descent from the Cook Islands. It may be an old custom but has a contemporary identity influenced by other Polynesians, through cros ...

, fakaleiti or leiti,

fakafifine Fakafifine are people from Niue, who were born assigned male at birth but who have a feminine gender expression. In Niue this is understood as a third gender, culturally specific to the country. Etymology The term comes from Niuean and is com ...

, and other), coined by

Phylesha Brown-Acton Phylesha Brown-Acton (born February 1976) is a Niuean fakafifine LGBTQ+ rights activist. In 2019 she was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in recognition of her work with LGBTQ+ communities from Pacific countries. Biograp ...

, to "enhance Pasifika gender diversity awareness in addition to the term LGBTQI".

History and culture

Colonial historical records are silent on the role of vakasalewalewa in Fijian society. However, like many other gender identities in Oceania, such as

in the

Cook Islands ) , image_map = Cook Islands on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , capital = Avarua , coordinates = , largest_city = Avarua , official_languages = , lan ...

or Fa'afafine in

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...

, that these identities existed and were valued in pre-modern Fiji. Activist

Shaneel Lal Shaneel Shavneel Lal (born 22 January 2000) is a Fijian-New Zealand LGBT rights activist, known for spearheading the movement to ban conversion therapy in New Zealand. Lal is a model, a columnist for ''New Zealand Herald'', and a political com ...

argues that prior to colonisation, vakasalewalewa were integral to native Fijijan society.

Lal Lal ( fa, لعل, hi, लाल, bn, লাল, ur, لال, ps, Lāl) is an Indo-Iranian surname and given name, which means "darling", "precious", or "beloved", from the Sanskrit ''lala'' ("cajoling").''Dictionary of American Family Names''F ...

claims that colonisation stripped Fijians of their rich queer identities and conditioned them with homophobia, transphobia and queerphobia. According to Joey Joleen Mataele, many vakasalewalewa work in hospitality industries.

Reception

In Geir Henning Presterudsten's study of communities, they reported that many rejected the label of vakasalewalewa, believing it to be "old-fashioned" or "restrictive". However, people who ascribed to vakasalewalewa found greater acceptance in Fiji, than those who identified as .

Notable vakasalewalewa

* Kalisito Biaukula - broadcaster and human rights activist. *

- queer and indigenous rights activist.

References

{{Gender and sexual identities Gender in Oceania Gender systems Third gender Transgender in Oceania Fijian culture